Patterson Harkavy attorney Brad Bannon, who is serving his third year as an advisory member on the North Carolina State Bar Ethics Committee, recently revived discussions in the Committee about proposed ethics rules that would require prosecutors to disclose information about possible wrongful convictions. First proposed eight years ago, the rule amendments stalled following opposition

Patterson Harkavy obtained a $3,250,000 settlement for Willie Grimes, an innocent man who served 24 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. In July of 1988, Mr. Grimes was wrongfully convicted of the rape and kidnapping of an elderly woman in Catawba County. On October 4, 2012, thanks to the work of the North Carolina

Last year, Patterson Harkavy filed suit on behalf of Joseph Sledge, a man who served 37 years in prison for crimes he did not commit. The suit alleged that Mr. Sledge was wrongfully convicted because officers with the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation unlawfully withheld evidence that demonstrated

In 1978, Joseph Sledge was wrongfully convicted of a dual murder. On January 23, 2015, thanks to the work of the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence, a three-judge panel unanimously found that Mr. Sledge was innocent. Mr. Sledge served 37 years in prison for crimes he did not commit. Last week, Patterson Harkavy, together

In July 1988, Willie Grimes was wrongfully convicted of the rape and kidnapping of an elderly woman in Catawba County. On October 4, 2012, thanks to the work of the North Carolina Center for Actual Innocence, a three-judge panel unanimously found that Grimes was innocent. Grimes served 24 years in prison for crimes he did not commit. Yesterday, Patterson

Patterson Harkavy attorneys Burton Craige and Narendra Ghosh, with co-counsel Spencer Parris and Chris Olson, recently obtained settlements totaling more than $12,000,000 for two men who were imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. In 1992, Greg Taylor was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. After Taylor served 17 years in prison,

A civil rights complaint has been filed in federal court on behalf of Plaintiff Gregory Flynt Taylor against Peter Duane Deaver and other former employees of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation seeking damages for his wrongful incarceration. The complaint may be viewed here. In April 1993, Mr. Taylor was wrongfully convicted and sentenced

The following briefs opposing defendants’ motion to dismiss have recently been filed in Dail, v. City of Goldsboro, et al.: Plaintiff’s First Response Brief and Plaintiff’s Second Response Brief. Mr. Dail was convicted of a crime he did not commit and subsequently imprisoned for 18 years. He was exonerated in 2007 when DNA evidence proved his

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